I wouldn’t mind a great-grandchild named after me. My name is cool and means happy, or happyin. Not sure where the in came from but it appeared at least a century ago. Apart from that, perhaps the rule is to not deploy important software changes last thing on Friday. Some things … | Continue reading
Iron Man’s heart got patched with duct tape. Creative fellow, knows how to fix things. | Continue reading
It’s good to be back to Sofia where the water tastes like home and the food won’t make you explode. | Continue reading
I awarded 3* to Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker with a few harsh sentences and a couple of weeks later, it was announced he’ll visit Bulgaria. He did and I met him. Felt so embarrassed. But why was that? When it comes to criticism, Dale Carnegie has been my ultimate guide. He wrot … | Continue reading
Over the last decade, my goal has been to not shoot an immediate “No” to things. “No” used to be my default. The things can be opportunities, they deserve to be evaluated. “No” is easy. Nothing changes, it’s conservative. “Yes”, however, is the sun breaking through the clouds. It … | Continue reading
The Catalan people know how to make you eat too much with the never ending flow of tapas and cheese. Bye, Castelldefels. I’m on a diet now 🥦 And yes, I had steamed broccoli for lunch. | Continue reading
I feel privileged to have encountered many exceptional and inspiring teachers throughout my life. Perhaps most influential were the early-day childhood teachers, whose guidance potentially changed the course of my life. Kaka Ani was the computer class teacher in 4th-5th grade. We … | Continue reading
I blogged about this book because it’s heavy and impressive due to its size. I read it today. It was quite an adventure. I only had rough memories from White Sand part 1, and the Omnibus contains parts 1, 2, and 3, so it’s technically 3 books. Reading the first part didn’t mess u … | Continue reading
I achieved my goal of reading the first 10 books in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. The series is about a hot formerly unemployed bounty hunter who chases evil folks and loses them 10 times per book to only capture them on the 11th attempt. This is usually funny and … | Continue reading
After a month of passionate reading, I got the honorable 14.0 place for Bulgaria. My goal for the next month would be to reach at least 13.7th place. | Continue reading
Skip to content Veselin.blog MarTech work, good books, and religious walking in the city of Sofia Menu Home About Books Software Thinking Set in stone March 16, 2024March 16, 2024 ~ Veselin Share this: Reddit Tumblr Like Loading... Posted in Sofia blogBulgariaconcreteMladostSofia … | Continue reading
The fellow WordPress.com blogger, Weirdo82, complains that Google hasn’t discovered their site yet. I decided to check what my own presence on Google is with the Google Search Console (WordPress.com’s support doc). Google knows about my site but sends no traffic, based on ~2 days … | Continue reading
There’s a difficult choice when planning a spa trip to Velingrad. In case you go on a work day, the pool would mostly be empty but the food choices would be limited. The photo above was taken on a Thursday. Same place a day later would be very full of people but the food options … | Continue reading
This is the 4th book of the series for the round former battle mage Thraxas and his fierce friend Makri. I reviewed the first one here and then read #2 and #3. Part 4 felt like the best and most balanced of all. It is the best mystery and the one with the least battles. … Continu … | Continue reading
Back in 1992, I had the chance to read a series of 4 gamebooks called The Way of the Tiger. It was the second-best series after Blood Sword, captivating the young mind’s imagination with both its well-crafted fantasy world, and the feeling of challenge. Little did I know that the … | Continue reading
I read this book with the intent to read a classic sci-fi from the times when the skies were still tempting and the Solar system felt within our reach. The book felt close to that but to my surprise, it turned out it was written in 1993. It’s still a 1960s book, just one that … C … | Continue reading
Something makes my name difficult to say and hear. English speakers tend to confuse it with a random Russian last name, the Greek Vasilij, or Vaseline. Bulgarians improvise around it, surprised when they hear it. On the photo – Vasilen, actually not a bad interpretation because i … | Continue reading
I saw this writing prompt days ago and wanted to share a clever story about how I failed miserably at something, and then it turned out to be okay. However, I couldn’t come up with a good enough story, or even any story. No matter how I twisted it, it sounds like the things that … | Continue reading
Fear makes you click. But does it end with clicking and reading? Found this gem on the Reader today: French surgeon and neurobiologist, Henri Laborit (1914-1995) drew a clear connection between learning and emotion, showing that without the latter the former was impossible. The s … | Continue reading
Required height: over 110 cm, checked Required weight: under 120 kg, checked | Continue reading
The challenge to blog daily got me motivated to read more and shorter books. I read 15 last month, which I’ve not done since the day(s) I read The Chronicles of Amber. I didn’t blog about most of them, though. Didn’t feel right. The best books for the month were Five and Six by J … | Continue reading
I did it! I successfully read a book with a Goodreads rating of 3/5. Given that most people give 5s by default, the 3 is a pretty big deal. It’s like an IMDb rating of 4 for a movie. What grabbed my attention was the writing style of the first few pages. It sounded like … Continu … | Continue reading
I think my annual goal was a bit too modest. | Continue reading
I pushed myself to blog more and the blog started getting likes. I really enjoy receiving these. I hit a bug of a kind, though. There is a way to violently like someone’s site. I’ve not figured out where it stands in the netiquette. Getting one or 5 likes feels great but getting … | Continue reading
We celebrate the 1st of March in Bulgaria and give away wristbands called Martenitsa. Then we wear the received Martenitsa until the storks arrive or the trees blossom. Once that happens, we can put the Martenitsa on a branch or under a stone. We won’t let ourselves be set back b … | Continue reading
Somewhere around the Technical University. | Continue reading
Imagine a fantasy world with taverns, elves, orks, bands, and corruption. A mixture of Tolkien, Pratchett, the dark part of the Middle Ages, and an exploitation version of Conan. Taverns, gangs, priests, and rot. In that world, there’s an overweight battle mage who works as a det … | Continue reading
Looks like an abandoned shop in an old commie block. However, in 1997, this was the service center of RTS computers. They would assemble computers in the left part and hand them over in the right part of what’s in the photo. I also remember how their technician built a custom LPT … | Continue reading
At the heart of Sofia. To the left is a place called Koloni (columns), and ahead is Garibaldi. The clock tower of the long gone KTB bank would still ding enthusiastically. You have a choice of fast food, confectioneries and book shops. It’s ordinary. | Continue reading
How did that happen? What is it? Found near Mladost station. | Continue reading
I think life is a game that favors people with ambitious goals. Some people may have better cards or natural advantages or disadvantages. No matter what cards are dealt, a person with a goal is more likely to reach that goal than a person without it. A person who works relentless … | Continue reading
This is in Poligona, at the edge between residential and abandoned military properties. | Continue reading
I keep reading the Stephanie Plum series. My original plan was to get to book 5 but I’m going to extend that to book 10. The series keeps being cool and I consistently award high scores. Stephanie Plum is a headhunter who does more and more PI work and less and less headhunting. … | Continue reading
These plants don’t care about the cards they’ve been drawn. | Continue reading
The coziest and most hipster park in Sofia. Probably best area for Airbnb as well. | Continue reading
In each instance, we readily forgive our own minds but look harshly upon the minds of other people. I found this nice 2012 article on r/psychology about how our experience and intuition fool us into making wrong predictions. The emphasis in the article is on underestimating other … | Continue reading
An easy answer would be some individual problem, like health, loss, or work. The hard answer is – dealing with uncertainty without dwelling on the endless negative outcomes. I need my imagination to be helpful. People have come to many ways to calm their fortune-telling never-end … | Continue reading
Hard to imagine that this is a bridge but it is. I’ve walked where the tracks are many times. It didn’t look like that though. Had no tracks, no blue plastic cover, or even guard rails. There were some ways for you to fall down, although I don’t think it ever happened. Getting in … | Continue reading
These two books have the same name. Goodreads says the big one contains the small one and the small one is supposed to be volume 1. The beginning of Omnibus looked familiar (I just started reading it). However, the illustrations are not the same as before. The style is different, … | Continue reading
Reusing old tires for gardening purposes is very common in Sofia, especially for protecting plants and small trees. The results are of varying quality. Here’s a tire swan. | Continue reading
What is your favorite drink? Traditionally made with yogurt, water and a bit of salt. Shake before using. Not all yogurts can be used for ayran. Those with thickening agents or added sugar don’t work well. | Continue reading
I’m fascinated with tiny streets, bridges, walkways, and other pedestrian-only infrastructure. Remove cars and it starts looking cozy. | Continue reading